Marino94
Marino94 (Latin: Imperator Marinus Julius Caesar Augustus), also known as MosMaiorum and Saint Marino, was the founder of the Minecraft branch of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor. He ruled from March 6, 2012 to September 6, 2012. Origins Marino was a member of the Roman Empire on Runescape, and rose through its ranks to become Praetorian Prefect, Senator, and later Emperor. He served with distinction, and was regarded as "Rome's best in the Senate" and "one of Rome's two best politicians" in the written history of the clan. In 2012, he left Runescape, wanting to expand Rome to other games. He chose Minecraft, and on March 6, 2012, a new branch of the Roman Empire was established. Reign Without any help from Runescape, Emperor Marino was forced to lay the foundations of The Roman Empire by himself. Luckily, the clan thread caught the eyes of many potential recruits, and the Empire's population grew very quickly. It was around this time that the Empire's first generation of leaders proved themselves: ChaosForge, the first Ab Epistulis; Ploopys123, the first Legatus Legionis; Lordjason4, the first Praetorian Prefect, and others. Monolith Monolith was the Empire's first server. Marino occupied an old fortress, once controlled by the Assassins Legion clan, and led the rebuilding and Romanization of the base. Once secure, Legio I Victrix began launching minor raids against other factions on the server. Rome stayed on Monolith for a few weeks, but became tired with Monolith's inactivity and moved servers. Private Servers While Legio I hopped between servers, looking for a good one to settle on, the civilian division settled on the private server of the Ab Epistulis, ChaosForge. They went to work building Rome, what would be the Empire's capital, but over time progress slowed. Eventually, civilians moved to another private server: that of Swargula, Curule Aedile, who would later rise to become Ab Epistulis. With plans laid down by Emperor Marino, the eternal city was brilliantly built by the Senate and People of Rome, and later reincarnations of the city paled in comparison to this one. Walls, temples, markets, ports, roads, banks, and other buidings decorated the landscape, and the S.P.Q.R. reached its height during this period. When progress slowed once more and inactivity began to creep up again, Emperor Marino decided it was time for a change. Legio I had been making gains on a server called Synstick, and it was decided that the civilian branch of the clan would move there too. This was when the Empire's first exodus took place, when Senators and civilians unhappy with the move protested and deserted the Empire. Rutyshacklford, future Emperor, joined the Empire during this time, and was among the second generation of leaders who would lead the Empire into its first Golden Age. It fell to him, Osiferjojo, Fertile01, Vetous, and others to rebuild the S.P.Q.R. Synstick The Empire's time spent on Synstick is regarded by the second generation as the height of Roman power, and the Empire's first golden age. The second generation included Rutyshacklford, Senator and Praefectus Urbanus; Osiferjojo, Senator, Mining Guildmaster, and later Consul; Fertile01 and Vetous; TheRome12345, Legatus Legionis; Max20077, Tribunus Laticlavius and later Legatus Legionis; and a score of other notable Romans. Legio I Victrix won crushing victories at every turn, launching campaigns against the barbarian nations of the server and making conquests left and right. Colonia Augusta, a Roman colony and Legio I's castrum, was erected and served as the hub of Roman activity on Synstick until Rome was rebuilt. Countless towns, nations, and clans were destroyed or subjugated, and many different rules bent the knee to Rome. The British Empire was Rome's main rival during this period, and battles between the two empires took place all across Synstick. Cape Gloucester, a major city of TBE, was put under siege by Legio I repeatedly, and a battle took place below the walls of Rome. The First Battle of Rome resulted in a crushing Roman victory, where the outnumbered British were slaughtered with virtually no Roman casualties. Emperor Marino led the people of Rome outside the walls to attack the British from the front, while Legio I flanked them and hit them from behind. The city of Rome was rebuilt on Synstick. Emperor Marino established mining, farming, and architecture guilds to collect resources and handle construction, and Rome's coffers and stores were full with food, ores, and gold. The Temple of Saturn, built by Marino himself, dominated the landscape, and the city's tall, imposing walls struck fear into anyone who caught sight of them. The Gardens of Sallust, the Urban Cohort barracks, the guild headquarters, the Triumphal Arch, and the Forum were the other monuments of the city. No other city on Synstick could compare to Rome, and not once was the city ever in danger of being captured. By the beginning of summer 2012, Rome was the most formidable clan on Synstick, but betrayal and deceit ended that. One of Rome's oldest allies turned on the Empire and led an alliance of clans into destroying all that Rome had built. The enemies Rome had made on Synstick, and those jealous of Rome's power, used this opportunity to band together behind this alliance and march against the Empire. Traitors from within Rome's ranks revealed their true nature as well, and switched sides. Legio I fought its hardest and put up fierce resistance, but they were massively outnumbered. Not wanting to lose the eternal city and give the enemy a massive morale victory, Emperor Marino made the tough choice to abandon Colonia Augusta and consolidate his strength at Rome. Not wanting to leave what they saw as their home, the men of Legio I were unhappy, and the veterans of the legion never forgot the decision. Emperor Marino ordered Legio I to assemble at Rome, had the people of Rome armed, and prepared for the worst. Eventually, the worst came, and the horde of barbarian clans descended on Rome and sacked it. Those traitors and barbarians who took part in the sack are condemned from memory. As Pax Bellum once wrote in his history of the Runescape branch of the clan, "Disgrace does not deserve glory. Only their actions will be remembered." The Empire was forced to retreat, and launch a campaign of guerilla warfare. The enemy used infiltrators to find Rome's hidden bases, put Rome never gave up. By the end of the war, the tide had turned, and the Empire was making gains again. Attrition had worn out the enemy, as internal strife, drops in morale, and bans for cheating overtook them. But before Rome could take back what they had lost, Synstick closed, and the Empire had to find a new home. Rebuilding The Empire had been invited to play on the server Romecraft months before, and decided to try the server out. TRE had long used Stugace's brilliant Romecraft texture pack as the official texture pack of the clan. Hokehs, who had been given server ownership by Stug, agreed to give TRE its own cohort: the short-lived 7th Cohort. Some Romecraft players had been upset that TRE, who had just recently joined the server, were given their own cohort and officer ranks. Many more players didn't trust that TRE would take roleplay seriously. However, Rome proved them wrong on multiple occasions, and outperformed them in battles, in trainings, and in day-to-day roleplay. The other cohorts became jealous and still gave Rome some abuse, so Marino decided to have the Empire move to another server. Romecraft had been unpopular with some of the veteran legionaries from the start, considering there was no PVP and because the idea of roleplaying was silly to them. They agreed to give Romecraft a chance, but some never put in a true attempt at roleplaying, and instead chose to troll and goof off. By the time TRE left Romecraft, some legion officers were very upset. As for the Romecraft community, it should be noted that many of the players were kind and welcoming, and the server staff was always helpful and fair. It was the rotten apples that drove TRE away. No matter what happened, Marino always considered Romecraft his favorite server. After Romecraft, Rome went through a number of different PVP servers, one being Justicecraft. Rome encountered some of its old enemies from Synstick there, but a peace deal was struck. After building a strong fortress, Rome resumed raiding and PVP. It was during this period of time that Emperor Marino finally chose his heir. Marino knew he would have to abdicate by September for college and tried to keep this a secret, but some people knew. It was past time an heir was chosen, but Marino was waiting for the best possible choice. After much deliberation, Marino chose Rutyshacklford, one of the hardest working, most competent Romans in the clan's history. An old member of the civilian branch and an experienced Senator, he was respected and well-liked by the S.P.Q.R., but Legio I had mixed feelings towards him. The Senate, which had been reduced and downsized, was now being reformed. One of Marino's dreams had been a successful democratic clan, and he had experimented with clan democracy on Runescape many times. The clan's first Senate elections took place, and though they went as planned, political factions arose and had too much influence on the voting. Elections would later be discontinued, as they caused too much division. The Senate, however, stood strong. Abdication By August, Marino secretly began preparing for his heir to succeed him. A vacation gave Marino the chance to let Ruty rule in his stead, to see how he would do. When he returned, the Empire stood as strong as it did before, and as Ruty gradually took more responsibility and power, the Empire grew stronger. Ruty had supervised the building of a new Rome on the clan's private server, with a spectacular forum as the centerpiece. There were grand temples, a basilica, a tall arch of marble and gold, and great monuments that surpassed any that Rome had built before. It was here, on the six month anniversary of the clan's founding, that Ruty's coronation ceremony took place. Marino gave one final, inspiring speech, and ascended to Elysium. It would fall to Emperor Ruty to continue Marino's work: an empire without end. Personality Emperor Marino was always seen as kind and friendly, and was popular and well-liked. He struggled with activity for the first half of his reign, due to a tight schedule and a lack of free time. Still, Emperor Ruty once remarked, "He'd disappear...and then get on, build a ton, solve every problem, and keep everyone busy." Regardless of his activity, Emperor Marino made sure to keep a close eye on everything by collecting frequent reports from his officials and keeping them busy with new orders and missions. He laid the foundations and built the institutions of the Minecraft branch of TRE, and gave the branch its start. He created the ranks and positions of the clan, built the Senate into an effective force of government, and steered the Empire towards prosperity. Though he wasn't able to execute his visions and goals himself, it was his visions and goals that made the Empire great. A good judge of character, he made sure to always have the best mid-level officials in both the legions and the S.P.Q.R. His years of service to TRE on Runescape and Minecraft gave him significant knowledge and insight into leadership and ruling, and left him wise beyond his years. Marino was a fanatic lover of everything related to ancient Rome, and pushed to make TRE as similar as possible to its ancient counterpart. On occasion he pushed too much, but it never caused any serious harm to the clan. His major flaw as a ruler was his inactivity early on, and he remarked once that if he had been more active, the golden age never would have ended. His long period of questionable activity was the true root of the problems that arose during his reign, though under his oversight the Empire still grew to become one of the oldest, most prestigious clans in Minecraft history. Above all, Marino was a man of vision. Honors Emperor Marino was named a saint by Pope Tommythompson, Grand Cardinal of the Papal Empire. Quotes About Marino "It was his ideas that made Rome great." ''- Rutyshacklford'' "Whenever he logged on, it was like a ray of sunshine." ''- Lordjason4'' "Rome's best in the Senate." ''- Pax Bellum, History of Runescape TRE'' "One of the two best politicians in Roman history." ''- Pax Bellum, History of Runescape TRE'' "May his sword guide us, may his shield protect us, may his wisdom never leave us." - Zuce007 "FOR WHEN WE WERE THE CHURCH OF MINECRAFT IT WAS HIM AND BY EXTENSION ROME WHO TOOK US IN, PROTECTED US, AND TAUGHT US HOW TO PROPERLY RUN A CLAN. WHEN WE CHANGED TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH TO BETTER ADAPT MARINO FURTHER LENT US AID IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF EARLY ROME AND WHEN WE MADE OUR FINAL TRANSITION TO THE PAPAL EMPIRE HE CONTINUED TO OFFER ROMAN AID WHEN NECESSARY." ''- Tommythompson, Pontifex Maximus of Rome and later Grand Cardinal of the Papal Empire''